March 27, 2025
10: rest day, trivia, the cough, the helmet debate, my elbow
rest day in Boca Raton
As you can imagine not much happens on a rest day, so I thought I'd share some interesting facts I came across about Boca Raton when I was researching my route:
* A dog named Freckles was allowed to file for divorce from his owner, citing public humiliation for being forced to defecate outdoors.
* The first settler of Boca Raton was named T.M. Rickards. In 1895 he lived on what is now the Palmetto Park Road Bridge in a house made entirely of driftwood.
* The movie “Marley and Me” takes place in Boca Raton.
* I wasn't able to verify it, but one source said that Boca Raton is home to the second highest population of Holocaust survivors in the United States, behind New York City.
* There's a law against billboards, so there's only one. It was grandfathered in after the regulations were established.
* Boca Raton is often misinterpreted as "mouth of a rat." Although it does translate literally as the rat's mouth, this town's name was originally from common nautical terms: "boca" meaning inlet, and "raton" meaning jagged rocks.
* All doors on public buildings must open outward because of hurricanes.
* The highest point in all of Boca Raton is 24 feet above sea level, located in the guard shack at Camino Gardens.
* The personal IBM computer was invented, not in Silicon Valley, but in Boca Raton.
Regarding that final piece of information about the computer, I have a link, if tenuous, to the person who invented it. Don Estridge, "father of the IBM PC," was my cousin's father-in-law. Steve Jobs offered him a multimillion-dollar job as president of Apple Computer but he declined.
I spent pretty much the entire day working on the blog, and remain continuously amazed at how people can do this day in and day out and still ride. I have a lot of respect for those of you who do it in real time and keeping up.
Nothing of significance happened, although at one point I thought I might need to perform CPR on my neighbor.
On occasion, more frequently than I'd like, the smell of cigarette smoke seeped into my room. It wasn't just the regular foul-smelling taint of tobacco, it was the kind that, even second hand, makes your nasal passages rebel in defiance and scream, "Why did you just shit in your own nose?!?"
About once an hour, The Cough would begin. It wasn't so annoying as it was alarming, this coming from someone who listened to people cough as part of his profession. It would start as a few wheezy breaths in and out as my neighbor worked her way up to be able to garner enough air in her lungs to express whatever mucoid hobgoblin was residing there. After half a minute or so when finally equipped for this massive undertaking, she emitted a weak, wet sound, but it appeared that's all that came out... just sound. After The Cough, her breathing continued to sound like she was gargling.
Since there's a rule that you can't smoke within 100 feet of the building, she kindly stepped outside her room and into the passageway. This enabled the smell to slip under my door more effectively. From my vantage point on the couch I could see her sitting on the stairwell, and doubted she could make it 100 feet away from the building to smoke.
This was later verified when I watched her and her partner walk about 20 feet to their car. She was both extremely kyphotic and scoliotic to the point where it was difficult for her to look up. Dragging her cane behind her like a recalcitrant dog, the trek took no less than two minutes. Her husband followed her, also using a cane, and took almost as long. My first thought was, "My God... they're driving??" and wondered if I was safe here in the room since their car was parked directly in front of my window.
When it was time to eat, I started looking for something nearby. Oddly, there was nothing near the hotel... not a store anywhere, so I used GrubHub and vowed to make sure I picked something up before arriving at the hotel or campsite from now on.
By afternoon I really needed to go outside. The weather has been absolutely perfect, so I took one of the chairs from my room and sat in the shade under a tree and enjoyed the 72F/22.2C temperature and the fresh ocean breeze.
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I can’t believe that my wife of 28 years would accuse me of hiding things from her, but it’s true. Sure, I might’ve forgotten to mention that I fell off my bike, and my head lightly tapped the concrete, but it was such a minor incident that it was hardly worth mentioning. Besides, what’s head trauma going to do? Make me dumber?
I have no idea how she found out, but I suspect she’s been secretly reading my blog between Pulitzer Prize Winners and Booker Awards. A slum reader, apparently.
So when she told me that I need to replace my helmet, I let her know that I thoroughly checked it out, and it’s fine. “You’re supposed to replace it if you fall,” she added. With raised eyebrows, I added, “Is that according to the people who sell helmets?” Undaunted, she responded, “It’s according to your wife.”
Damn. How do you respond to that unarguable logic. Never mind the fact that she’s a board-certified physician who cares for patients with traumatic brain injuries… big deal, what do you know, lady? But the wife thing.
Then, more trash talking on her part:
“Giro should give you a helmet or a discount.”
“Ha!” I laughed loudly (but only in my head).
“Think they’ll give me a new helmet for this little scratch?”
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I know you are dumb after that last fall, but you dont want to be called "dumber" after the next fall! 😁🤣😂
1 week ago
“Yes.”
“Even if I bought it in 2021, four years ago?”
"Yes, or at least a discount."
Since there is absolutely no way Giro will give me a new helmet, or even a discount for a scratch on a 4-year-old helmet, I set out to prove her wrong (this is where you're forbidden to laugh). Within minutes, I sent an email to Giro with all the info they requested.
Their prompt response:
Hi Mark,
Thank you for your recent inquiry about our helmet Crash Replacement program. We are so happy you had on the helmet and are OK! We offer a 30% discount off of the original retail price on the purchase of a new helmet if in the US.
Damn it.
I looked at their website and found that the replacement helmet costs $65.00. Minus 30%, that comes to $45.00. On Amazon, the same exact helmet sells for $35.00. Aha! Like I said, there's no way Giro will give an actual discount for a helmet. This is just their way of getting you to pay more.
I felt so gratified, even smug, that I’m getting a helmet from Amazon for $35.00 instead of spending $65.00 with the “30% discount” like Heather recommended.
Then realized that I now have a new helmet… just like she wanted.
Also, on the topic of helmet replacement: the subject heading on the email I received from Giro said “re: case 1606187.” Does that mean they've received 1,606,187 cases?? It seems like quite a large number of helmet requests, or even requests.
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After spending the day on the blog, fully rested, I went to bed at 10:45. The final train that rumbled past my room did so for the last time of the evening, shaking the bed upon which I was laying, as it shook the couch when I was sitting there, and the bar stool when I was sitting in the kitchen.
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1 week ago
1 week ago
6 days ago
Also, I retired in January. Otherwise, I'd be doing longer days with fewer stops... which would mean not even working on the blog until after the trip. Even with the extra time, I don't see how you keep up. It's kind of amazing.
6 days ago
6 days ago